History and Education

Current Student Profiles

Jennifer AmmentiJennifer Ammenti is a M.A. student in the History and Education program. Jennifer earned her B.A. in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Outdoor Education from California State University, Chico in 2001. She then went on to earn a California K-8 Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with an English Supplement in 2002. Jennifer has seven years of classroom teaching experience in grades third through fifth and another three years experience as a K-8 Head Librarian and Middle School Advisor. She has taught in public, public charter and private schools almost exclusively in Oakland, California. In 2009, she was a Klingenstein Summer Institute Fellow and in 2011 she earned a Certificate in Educational Technology Leadership from California State University, East Bay. Her research interests include teacher preparation, school reform, urban education, and violence in schools. She is passionate about outdoor education, supporting struggling learners and helping students to understand their strengths, as well as their areas for growth. She embraces difficult conversations and believes they are path to not only personal growth, but systemic change

Jennifer BoyleJennifer Boyle
is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program. She graduated
with honors from Fordham University in 2009, earning her B.A. with a
concentration in American Studies. She completed her M.A. in the History
and Education program at Teachers College in 2011. Her Master's thesis
focused on the black Episcopal church in Harlem and its role in securing
education for the community during the Civil Rights Era. As a doctoral
candidate, her interests include the history of urban education,
community activism and the relationship between race and education.
Prior to Teachers College, Jennifer interned at the American Irish
Historical Society and taught an after-school program at Quest to Learn
in New York City.

Lee BynumLee Bynum is a Ph.D. student in the History and
Education program. He earned his
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in African American studies from Columbia
University. Lee’s research has been published
by the university presses of Oxford, Columbia, New York University, University
College Cork, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, as well as presented at
the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Popular
Culture Association/American Culture Association, and the University of
Birmingham in England. Since 2011, Lee
has been with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where he currently serves as associate
director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and as program associate
for Diversity Initiatives and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Previously, he was the program associate for
Scholarly Communications and Information Technology at Mellon, assistant director
of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia, and visiting scholar
at Caritas in Hong Kong. Lee was the
founding artistic director of the Harmony Theatre Company in New York, and is
active with The BLK Projek, a Bronx-based urban agriculture non-profit.

Cody J. CunninghamCody J. Cunningham is currently pursuing a M.A. in the History and Education program. Prior to attending Teachers College, he taught art and coached golf at a local middle school in Dunbar, West Virginia. He attended West Virginia State University graduating summa cum laude with a B.S. in Education and a B.A. in History. Further, he holds an A.A. in Biblical Studies from Johnson University located in Knoxville, Tennessee. When not pursuing academic interests, he enjoys travelling, book collecting, fishing, and participating in activities that improve the community.

Damaris DunnDamaris Dunn is a MA student in the History and Education program. She teaches social studies at the Historic Boys and Girls High School located in Brooklyn, NY. She previously interned at the Urban Justice Center for the Street Vendor Project. The mission of the Street Vendor Project is to advance economic and social justice among the approximately ten thousand people who sell food and merchandise on the streets and sidewalks of New York City. Damaris earned her BA in History at the State University of New York at Oswego in 2012, where she minored in African American and Women's Studies. Her interests include urban education and race and education.

Deidre B. FlowersDeidre B. Flowers is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program. She has several years of experience in government, non-profit and higher education, and is currently the Associate Director for Business Services in Columbia University’s Office of Alumni and Development. Deidre’s scholarly interests include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Higher Education Leadership and Women’s education. She has presented her research at Teachers College’s 50th anniversary conference on The Impact of the Brown Decision on American Education and Society. Her resulting article, “The Launching of the Sit-In Movement: The Role of the Black Women at Bennett College,” was published in the 2005 Winter/Spring issue of the Journal of African American History. In addition to serving on the History of Education Society’s Graduate Student Committee, she has presented her Bennett College research at the Society’s annual conferences. Deidre earned her BA from Hampton University, an MPA from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs; as well as an Ed.M. from Teachers College in Higher and Postsecondary Education Administration.

Barry GoldenbergBarry Goldenberg is currently a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program and a Graduate Student Fellow at the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) where he is the Project Director of Youth Historians in Harlem (YHH). YHH is an after-school program which seeks to explore how innovative history experiences and public history can be used to both improve the academic literacies of traditionally marginalized youth and produce historical scholarship. Barry holds a B.A. in History (highest departmental honors), magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a minor in education studies. Barry's first book, entitled "The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights," has been published by Critical Minds Press and is currently available on Amazon.com and in various libraries. In addition, Barry has been featured on the Harlem World Magazine Radio Show and prior to TC, served as an Intern for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) and volunteered abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. You can find his personal website at www.barrygoldenberg.com.

Viola HuangViola Huang is a Ph.D. student in the History
and Education program. Viola earned a teaching
degree for German secondary schools (equivalent to a combined U.S. B.A. &
M.A. degree) from the University of Konstanz in Germany. She has also studied
at the University of Windsor in Canada, the University of York in the UK, and
the National Taiwan Normal University in Taiwan as a visiting student. Her
research interests include 20th century African American History
with a focus on social movements, community activism, and the relationship
between race and education. She is further interested in alternative and
transformative education as exemplified in her thesis which explored different
models of democratic education. Finding it crucial to combine theory and practical
experience, Viola worked as a teaching assistant in university, taught English
to children, youths, and adults, gave music and dance
classes, and volunteered for a
non-profit project that addresses issues of racism, discrimination and
stereotypes in schools.

Diane McKoyDiane McKoy is an Ed.D. student in the History and Education program. She has been an admissions officer for 20+ years at Columbia University Office of Undergraduate Admissions. She is a consultant with College Board/Overseas Project and works with international counselors in Africa. Prior to Columbia, she was a middle school history teacher in Newton, MA. Diane earned a B.A. in History from Yale University and has a M.A. and M.Ed. in History and Education from Teachers College. Her research interests are in higher education for minority women in the South and the overlap of religion, community and culturally based organizations.

Jean ParkJean Park is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program, and will serve as a Graduate Research Fellow for the Center on History and Education at Teachers College for 2013-2014. Prior to her graduate studies, she served as the Development Director at St. Joseph School in lower Manhattan for two years. Jean earned her A.B. degree from Princeton University in 2008, where she majored in History and received a Certificate in East Asian Studies. Her research interests include: urban education, immigration, and social history.

Antonia Abram Smith Antonia is a Ph.D. student in the History and Education program and Graduate Fellow at the Center for History and Education at TC. Her research interests include prison education and reform, industrial education, and the history of children and families. Antonia is currently serving on the History of Education Society’s Graduate Student Committee. She is also the Senior Director of the Arts and After School Program and Summer Arts Camp at Greenwich House in Greenwich Village. Antonia earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago in 2003 where she concentrated in Art History and Early Modern European History. When not at work, you can find Antonia scuba diving somewhere warm and tropical.

Fevronia K. Soumakis Fevronia K. Soumakis is a doctoral candidate in the History and Education program. Her research interests include religion and education, women's history, and immigration studies. She has presented her work at the History of Education Society's Annual Meeting as well as other scholarly forums. Fevronia currently volunteers her time as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Sophia Institute, an advanced research institute and philanthropic foundation. She also serves on the School Board of A. Fantis Parochial School in Brooklyn, NY.

Eric StromeAs a Ph.D. student working at the intersection of history, philosophy, and education, Eric’s dissertation addresses the development of the German University model in the United States during the Age of the University, with particular attention to the seminar as pedagogy and locus of institutional reform. Eric is also interested in methodological change in the digital humanities, and is at work on a book chapter featuring quantitative analysis of early Republican educational writing. When not working, he teaches chess to 2nd & 4th graders and raises vegetables.

Megan SummersMegan Summers is a M.A. student in the History and Education program. She teaches social studies at Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone, New Jersey and previously worked at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Megan earned her B.A. in History at Princeton University in 2006, where she also received certificates in African American Studies and Teacher Preparation. Her historical interests include school choice, race and education, and music education’s relationship with jazz and popular genres. She has taught popular music history courses at Montclair State University, and recently published a music history text, These Distorted Times, in 2011.